The meta is still in a bit of disarray, but a lot of good decks have risen to the top of the ranks. Warlock and Warrior are still very strong, but Rogue has seemed to hit rock bottom based on the Gadgetzan Auctioneer nerfs and lackluster card pick ups from Goblins vs. Gnomes. Druid hasn’t seen much new flavor due to being a bit hamstrung by weak cards in GvG.
Card strength has also shaken out a bit, and the big winner is Dr. Boom! You’ll find him in nearly every strong deck, and it is high up on the list of cards to craft at the moment. As for class Legendaries, the leaders of the pack are Vol’jin and … Neptulon?! A bit surprising that a card that floods your hand with Murlocs is in a good place!
Druid
Goblins vs. Gnomes did not add a lot to the Druid arsenal. They are very much in the same spot they were in before the expansion released, which is not to say that they aren’t strong. Druid is still a solid class, there’s just not a whole lot of excitement going on with their current decks.
Hunter
Hunter is strong and is still sitting in more of a Midrange-y deck area. The Deathrattle flavor has not faded, and has only gotten stronger with the addition of Clockwork Gnome and Piloted Shredder. Dr. Boom has also successfully infiltrated its way into the deck!
Mage
If you hated Mages in Arena, prepare to hate them again in constructed! Once relegated to inconsistent aggro or freeze varieties, it now boasts a strong aggro flavor with an emphasis on Mechs. Goblin Blastmage has been a standout among other class cards and has empowered this deck. Control varieties have popped up, but nothing truly stable has found its mark. We could, however, be on the verge of seeing a freeze mage variety with an emphasis on Giants and Echo of Medivh.
- StrifeCro’s Mech Mage
- (Potential) Day9’s Echo of Medivh Mage
Paladin
The big winner of Goblins vs. Gnomes has to be Paladin. They got the exact cards they needed to help in the early game: Muster for Battle and Shielded Minibot. They also got a Legendary that seems to have turned out better than expected in Bolvar Fordragon, and Quartermaster is showing its worth by empowering those mustard tokens.
Powder has been using his deck to successfully defend and regain his #1 spot on the legendary EU ladder with his control/midrange Paladin deck!
Priest
Priest is still a strong class, but the best deck solution seems to still be shaking out. Lightbomb is being experimented with, and whether Vol’jin is a mainstay in the deck remains to be seen. Amaz has even been running Blingtron 3000 with Harrison Jones for the potential combo, and the ability to destroy an opponents weapon and replace it with another (Gorehowl or Eaglehorn Bow).
Rogue
If Paladin was the big winner of Goblins vs. Gnomes then Rogue was the big loser. This is not all to do with GvG, but the nerfs that came right before it. Gadgetzan Auctioneer being moved up to 6 mana essentially killed Miracle Rogue and other deck variants were not nearly as strong.
Edit: Dog has proven me wrong by playing and maintaining Rank 4 Legend while playing his version of GvG Miracle Rogue.
Firebat and Hosty have been working to make a deck around Tinker’s Sharpsword Oil work, which you can check out below.
Shaman
There hasn’t been a lot of movement with Shaman. 11point5ft proved that they were still a viable class by taking the #1 Legendary spot with a deck built on the back of Crackle, Enhance-o Mechano, and Neptulon. The new weapon for Shaman, Powermace, has met with mixed results and could still find its way into the Shaman’s arsenal down the road.
Warlock
Soulfire was nerfed, but it didn’t seem to slow down the Warlock. It helped that Darkbomb essentially filled the same role, but without the drawback of losing a card which hurt Handlock. Both decks are still very strong, and Handlock has even added Recombobulator which can heal your giants or swap out your used Sunfury Protector or Defender of Argus. Xixo’s version of Zoo even takes advantage of the new class card Imp-losion!
Warrior
Warrior decks haven’t changed much, but that just means they are just as strong. The main additions have been Shieldmaiden and Dr. Boom, while the rest of the deck has remained as expensive as ever.
Let me know if I missed any decks in the comments below!
I’m not convinced that Rogues are bigger losers than druids (if they are even losers). Druid, as a class, was barely enhanced by the new class cards. I haven’t seen any consistency with decks where any class card outside of the Robo-Cub is even used. They were REALLY scared of making druids too good, in my opinion.The bigger bomb legendaries are strong in ramp-style decks, but they always have been, and they don’t promise any sort of edge over mainstays like Rag, Cenarius, Ysera, etc.
Rogues have something going for them. There are mech-rush variants that are terrifying with a protected Iron Sensei (essentially creating 2 priority targets for the opponent) and Sharpsword Oil. The Wrench is also very good. Additionally, spare parts help you have small spells to enable combos on a fairly consistent basis. I’m currently loving rogue right now, and I think the bigger problem is with the shift in thinking away from Miracle.
After seeing a couple of new Rogue decks come out literally within hours of my post I am inclined to agree with you.
nice one, you’ve missed warrior entirely though. sjow’s control warrior deck is the most popular one at the moment.
Thanks so much for letting me know, I can’t believe I did that! I had Sjow’s deck already on my list but it must have slipped my mind. Thanks again.